Weather - Everywhere is wet. 2 or 3 degrees above zero, even last night. All the snow is melting. So strange for January. Forecast is for similar warm (relatively speaking) weather. Above zero every day! Reduced gas usage, that is for sure. If this can continue for a week or two it will really reduce the demand for gas. Not a normal winter at all. It really feels warm outside.Update - 1300. About +8. Unreal. The snow is melting very quickly. The roads in places are literally covered with water.

Last edited by Nelson on Thu Jan 28, 2016 6:27 am; edited 2 times in total

http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/01/28/7096999/Thursday, January 28, 2016, 6:58Militants per day in the area of ​​ATO mode silence broken 40 times.The press center informs Staff ATO page on Facebook."Stressful situation was temporarily occupied on the outskirts of Donetsk. Ukrainian bases were subjected to fire from small arms, heavy machine guns and grenade launchers of various systems at Opitnoe, Pisky and mine Avdiyivka Module" - said in a statement.Ukrainian position near Marinka militants fired anti-aircraft installation. Also worked there Sniper terrorists.In Svetlodarsk arc on strengthening forces ATU and Mayorskoho near Trinity gunmen opened fire with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.

http://zaxid.net/news/showNews.do?samopomich_ne_pidtrimaye_zmini_v_reglament_parlamentu&objectId=1380669...Berezyuk also said that "Samopomich" suggests to return to the first reading of the bill on amendments to the Constitution of decentralization, to carry out "broad discussion", including the public....

https://tvrain.ru/news/valjutnye_zaemschiki-402523/=====Basically people who took out mortgages in foreign currency. Similar situation in Ukraine. Seems quite a risk to me, and to westerners in general - , but in Russia and Ukraine it was fairly common practice. When the hryvnia and ruble were stable. Now - of course - repayments are three times' higher. If your salary is in the local currency.===Found this in EnglishProtests By Unhappy Mortgage Holders Rock Moscow Bankshttp://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/protests-by-unhappy-mortgage-holders-rock-moscow-banks/557047.html

http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-russia-zakharchenko-razing-village-good-soviet-ideology/27515228.htmlA separatist leader in eastern Ukraine has admitted to burning down a village at the height of fighting more than a year ago, while praising a proposal for restoring the place....

The war that is still going on, the debts of the previous corrupt regime and the slow pace of reform - are three reasons that hinder Ukraine's withdrawal from the economic crisis. In an interview with TV channel France 24 said Finance Minister Natalia Yaresko.

"The financial crisis in Ukraine is strong enough due to a combination of three reasons. Firstly, the war for which we are paying not only human lives, but also financially, in fact subsidizing electricity and gas to the region. We also lost 20% of the economy, therefore, are in a bad situation, "- said Yaresko.

According to her, in addition to the problems caused by the war, there are also others that inhibit the development of Ukraine.

"We have inherited a legacy of previous corrupt regime, who added the country about $ 40 billion. Debt. Also, over the years the pace of reform is not allowed to lead the country to the state when it would be ready to respond to the current challenges, "- said the Minister of Finance.

Yesterday, January 27, in Portugal from five people diagnosed with the virus Zika.All infected recently visited Brazil. None of them did not need hospitalization. It is reported by Deutsche WelleOn the same day the case Zika virus was detected in Finland. In Helsinki, the virus diagnosed in tourists visiting the Maldives last summer. Epidemiologist Jussi Sane from the National Institutes of Health Finolyandii claims that this is the first case involving the Maldives.The evening of 27 January it became known two cases of diagnosing the virus in Germany.Earlier it was reported that in Denmark found the first case of infection of a tropical virus Zika.Zika virus believed to cause the birth of thousands of babies with underdeveloped brains, and some countries have advised women to avoid pregnancy. No treatment or vaccine against disease caused by Zika virus, does not yet exist.Zika virus is transmitted by mosquitoes Aedes, common in tropical and subtropical regions all over the world

8:45Metropolitan Court gave the green light for the construction of high-rise buildings in the buffer zone of St. Sophia (Economic News)http://news.eizvestia.com/news_kiev/full/515-stolichnyj-sud-dal-dobro-na-stroitelstvo-mnogoetazhki-v-bufernoj-zone-sofii-kievskoj===Seems mad to me. There are so many buildings in Kiev now - new ones - that are empty, or part built, because of the crisis - AND the population is falling significantly every year - AND once the visa-free regime starts, then I expect another million or so young people to filter abroad illegally for work. Better to keep the green spaces. Kiev has lost a lot in the past few years. And it doesn't matter who is in power. Bribes. Which people simply cannot resist. Construction - particularly of an apartment block of say 100 or 200 apartments - is big big $$$$.

9:12http://www.rbc.ua/rus/news/rada-segodnya-planiruet-rassmotret-zakonoproekt-1453963093.htmlPeople's deputies plan to include the bill in the agendaVerkhovna Rada of Ukraine today, January 28, 2016, plans to introduce a bill in the agenda №3524 amending the Constitution of Ukraine (concerning justice). This is stated in the agenda of Parliament.Also, people's deputies plan to consider in the first reading a bill №3097 amending some laws of Ukraine concerning maintenance payments in the energy sector...====

Thought.... What about removing Deputy immunity from prosecution? This was such a priority during the election campaign. And now? As always... forgotten.

The oil price seems to have stabilized, during the past week, around 30 dollars a barrel. Probably still ok for US shale producers, though really they need a price of about 45 to make a profit. www.bloomberg.com/energy/

Donbas threatens ecological disaster due to uncontrolled nature and looters flooded shafts, writes Simon KabakaevAfter the "romantic" barricade-pro-Russian sentiment in the mining towns of east Ukraine came a severe hangover "Transnistrian" actually inform eizvestia.com.This volunteer coordinator of the project "Stop Terror" Semen Kabakaev wrote on his page on Facebook.

"...there is nothing left only dementia, multiplied many times Russian TV propaganda injections fiery speeches .... No more pay 12 thousand hryvnia, no more than 2 holidays a year,... No work, the mines closed, the ones that work - do not pay wages, prompting riots half-starved miners and their families. Mine is partially recessed, others simply are without electricity, as looters ... cut ...tens of kilometers of high-voltage mining cable, .......According to him, also did not mention the agitators "Russian world" that in the Rostov region more than 100 mines have closed in recent years, and in Vorkuta and the Kuznetsk Basin goes reduced to beggars:...We are waiting for poverty former Rostov mining towns of alcoholism and drug addiction, prostitution, unemployment and mortality rates, multiplied by the destroyed war infrastructure and constant stress the memories of how it was good when Ukraine....

http://www.euronews.com/2016/01/27/ukraine-in-the-grip-of-deadly-flu-epidemic/Ukraine is in the grip of a flu epidemic.An estimated 2.6 million people have been infected with the virus, which includes the swine flu strain, since October.83 Ukrainians have died, 19 in the capital, Kiev....

http://www.ibtimes.com/amid-east-ukraine-war-kiev-reduces-gas-supplies-russia-2283517....Ukraine announced plans Wednesday to significantly reduce the amount of gas it buys directly from its eastern neighbor -- and double what it takes from Europe. Since November last year Kiev had refused to buy Russian gas because of the high price and instead relied on cheaper gas from Europe....====Basically saying that western Europe gets a big discount because of the volume of gas it buys. But then - I remember - Ukraine USED to be Russia's biggest customer for gas.Whatever, in the next quarter, the price should be even lower. Can Ukraine survive the winter without buying direct from Russia? If the current weather pattern continues for a couple of weeks - maybe... +5 now where I am. 1030 am. Plus five. Unreal.

http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/01/28/7097042/In the headquarters of ATO say about the absence of loss a dayThursday, January 28, 2016, 12:52Day in the zone of the antiterrorist operation passed without loss.This at a traditional briefing on Thursday, spokesman for the presidential administration Alexander Motuzyanyk ATO."The enemy does not stop armed provocations. 40 militant attacks were recorded per day that passed. However, due to the fighting forces suffered no losses ATO. None of Ukrainian military died and was not injured," - said Motuzyanyk.

http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/economic/320674.html....According to a posting on the bank's website, Genbank from January 20, 2016 started working with Visa payment cards in Crimea in the national payment card system....====Why would you need a visa card in Crimea? Tourists can't go there. Oppression of foreigners. Very dangerous. There is nothing there to buy. Power cuts, no real food. A wasteland. Another Transdniestr.

http://en.censor.net.ua/resonance/371220/a_dangerous_moment_for_ukraines_fragile_ceasefireThe genies Putin summoned to make war on Ukraine are out of the bottle.Behind the scenes, U.S. diplomats are rediscovering Ukraine as a foreign-policy priority...If it starts to seem like Putin is cooperating and Poroshenko stalling, Brussels will likely find it difficult to maintain unanimity on renewing economic sanctions against Russia this summer.Powerful lobbies in Germany, France and Italy are now pushing for sanctions relief. ...

In English. Some interesting info. Russian exports to the EU - basically gas, and nothing else of substance. Downloads as a pdf file. Extract -  Massive energy exports tip the trade balance towards a substantial Russian surplus;  In the first half of 2015, the EU's (goods) exports to Russia fell by 32%, whereas imports from Russia fellby 26%. Worst affected were EU exports of agri-food products (-49%) and vehicles (-45%);  However, the EU remains by far Russia's largest foreign trade partner (42% of total Russian foreign tradein 2015); Russia is the EU's 4th largest partner (6% of the EU's foreign trade). In 2014 these figures were48% and 8% respectively;[And on p.2] - Russia's trade with all its partners, not only the EU, has declined by about one-third over the last year (-31%with EEU countries), suggesting that sanctions are less significant than other factors:

http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/making-sense-of-minsk-decentralization-special-status-and-federalism#.VqkCa9la_1Q.twitter....Federalism has been defeated, diplomatically, and militarily. Local self-governance is temporary. Decentralization is a necessary and positive development. But what exactly does "special status" mean?The specifics of "special status" include the right to linguistic self-determination. Despite claims to the contrary, everyone in Ukraine has always had free choice about which language they speak.The special status conditions can be read by anybody, and they need not amount to any sacrifice of Ukrainian sovereignty....

See alsoPackage of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreementshttp://www.elysee.fr/declarations/article/package-of-measures-for-the-implementation-of-the-minsk-agreements/...11. Carrying out constitutional reform in Ukraine with a new constitution entering into force by the end of 2015 providing for decentralization as a key element (including a reference to the specificities of certain areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, agreed with the representatives of these areas), as well as adopting permanent legislation on the special status of certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in line with measures as set out in the footnote until the end of 2015.1..

See also, for pdfhttp://www.elysee.fr/assets/Uploads/Package-of-Measures-for-the-Implementation-of-the-Minsk-Agreements.pdf1. Such measures are, according to the Law on the special order for local self-government in certain areas of theDonetsk and Luhansk regions:- Exemption from punishment, prosecution and discrimination for persons involved in the events thathave taken place in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions;- Right to linguistic self-determination;- Participation of organs of local self-government in the appointment of heads of public prosecutionoffices and courts in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions;- Possibility for central governmental authorities to initiate agreements with organs of local selfgovernmentregarding the economic, social and cultural development of certain areas of the Donetskand Luhansk regions;- State supports the social and economic development of certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhanskregions;- Support by central government authorities of cross-border cooperation in certain areas of the Donetskand Luhansk regions with districts of the Russian Federation;- Creation of the people’s police units by decision of local councils for the maintenance of public orderin certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions;The powers of deputies of local councils and officials, elected at early elections, appointed by the VerkhovnaRada of Ukraine by this law, cannot be early terminated.

Stoltenberg said NATO and Russia needed transparency to avoid misunderstandings and incidents such as the November shooting down of a Russian fighter jet by key alliance member Turkey after it violated its airspace along the Syrian border.

"We are looking into the possibility of holding a NATO-Russia Council meeting," Stoltenberg said.

"No final decision has been taken but we will also discuss that with the Russian delegation at NATO and then make a final decision on when to have such a meeting," he added.

NATO suspended all practical cooperation with Russia after its intervention in Ukraine and 2014 annexation of Crimea but it left in place the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) as a possible channel of communication with Moscow.

The NRC groups all 28 NATO member states, usually at ambassador level with their Russian counterpart, to manage ties. It held a last, frosty meeting in June 2014.

Presently, merely 5% of Ukraine-controlled areas in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts are willing to become part of Russia and zero percent willing to live in the breakaway republics, Institute of Sociology head Iryna Bekeshkina said, speaking on Kanal 5 Jan. 28.

Bekeshkina reminded that a year ago 35% of Donetsk and Luhansk oblast residents wanted to separate Ukraine, with 20% willing to live in an independent state and 15% to join Russia.

Earlier, Razumkov Center’s director Andry Bychenko said the majority of Ukrainians disagree with awarding Donbas a special status.

Lugansk Governor George Tooke stated the need for judicial reform in Ukraine.

Tuck: The judge, who was detained with a bribe, continues to administer justice.

Ukrainian court in the Lugansk region decided to justify separatist as "LC is not recognized as a terrorist organization." This was said on Facebook the chairman of Luhansk regional military-civilian administration George Tooke, commenting on the need for judicial reform in Ukraine.

"By the way, Aunt judge, who, along with lawyers and prosecutors detained and documented with a bribe ... continues to administer justice on behalf of Ukraine," - he added.

Parliament 21 December 2015 supported the decision about the direction of the presidential bill on judicial reform to the Constitutional Court. January 22 the court found it relevant to the Basic Law.

Now Parliament must first approve the bill in the first reading at least 226 votes. Finally, the Law on Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine was adopted at the next session of the constitutional majority (at least 300).

Among other things, it proposes to abolish the right of parliament to appoint and dismiss the Prosecutor General, but this provision has caused debate among MPs. Yesterday the leader of the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko, Yuri Lutsenko said that after consulting the President of the Parliament is ready to leave for the right to express distrust of the Attorney General.

At the same time, the lawmaker did not specify the grounds and the article, under which the criminal case against him was initiated. However, he claims that the Prosecutor General's Office has resorted to this action in response to a request by Viktor Medvedchuk and the Opposition bloc party.

See more: Meeting of separatists dedicated to creation of special region of Slobozhanshchyna disrupted. Medvedchuk's protesters-for-hire prepare similar action on Bessarabia on Saturday - MP Levus. PHOTO

"The PGO has promptly opened proceedings against me at the request of Medvedchuk and Opposition bloc. It's worth noting that I requested the PGO to check Medvedchuk's involvement in separatist forums held in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, and Odesa much earlier. This angered Medvedchuk. There is still no response to my request. There are criminal proceedings against me instead. Therefore, PGO covers separatists and a Putin's friend showing readiness to lock up those fighting against them," Levus commented on the opening of criminal proceedings against him.

It should be noted that the statement on the website of Medvedchuk's Ukrainskyi Vybir NGO reads that the criminal proceedings have been initiated against Levus as he allegedly cast aspersions on Medvedchuk.

The ruling on January 28 by the EU’s General Court concerns former Ukrainian Prime Ministers Mykola Azarov and Serhiy Abruzov, Azarov's son Oleksii, former Energy Minister Edward Stavytskyi, and businessman Serhii Klyuyev.

The EU in March 2014 placed the five on a blacklist of individuals suspected of stealing Ukrainian public funds before Yanukovych was brought down by street protests.

The EU’s General Court said on January 28 that the five were included on the blacklist based solely on a letter from the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General’s Office.

But the letter dated from March 2014 “provides no details concerning the matters specifically alleged against the five Ukrainians or the nature of their responsibility,” the Luxembourg-based judges argued.......

The battle for control of JKX, a London-listed oil company that drills in Russia and Ukraine, culminated on Thursday with a Russian businessman ousting the company’s board of directors.

Vladimir Tatarchuk’s Proxima Capital investment fund secured about 70 per cent of the votes cast at a special meeting of JKX shareholders for his proposal to replace most of the board, including the chairman and chief executive...........................

January 28 – The Moscow Patriarchate may have succeeded in intimidating the Universal Patriarch of Constantinople not to grant autocephaly to its rival in Ukraine, the Kyiv Patriarchate; but as a result of the war and the attitude of the two churches to it, an increasing number of parishes are shifting their allegiance from Moscow to Kyiv.

The Moscow Patriarchate still has far more parishes in Ukraine than does the Ukrainian Patriarchate, 12,515 to 4877 respectively, but the shift of some 60 parishes on their own volition from the first to the last is “unprecedented,” according to Ukrainian analyst Ivan Verstyuk (nv.ua/publications/kak-prihody-moskovskogo-patriarhata-stanovjatsja-kievskimi-93219.html).

Never before have so many parishes transferred allegiance in this way; and this shift, while still relatively small calls attention to two important developments: the growing strength of Ukrainian identity and opposition to Moscow, and the fact that in Ukraine, Moscow parishes are now vastly outnumbered by those of the Kyiv Patriarchate and other Christian denominations.

According to Ukraine’s culture ministry, there are now approximately 16,000 Christian church parishes in that country not subordinate to Moscow, compared to only 12,500 that are. As a result, Moscow Patriarch Kirill’s talk about Ukraine as “the canonical territory” of the Russian Orthodox Church has ever less of a foundation in reality.

Most of the shifts in subordination have taken place in Western Ukraine, although intriguingly some have occurred near the front lines. And more are in prospect given a shift in popular attitudes. In 2011, 31.1 percent of Ukrainians said they supported the Kyiv Patriarchate while 25.9 percent said they supported the Moscow one.

Now, those figures have shifted, with 44.2 percent of Ukrainians declaring that they support the Kyiv Patriarchate and only 20.8 percent supporting the Moscow church. If Constantinople recognizes the Kyiv Patriarchate as independent, the number of churches which will change size will rise dramatically.......

Russian fighter Su-27 is dangerous friends with the American reconnaissance plane RC-135U. It said Pentagon spokesman Michelle Baldanza, reports RIA Novosti. According to her, the incident occurred on January 25 in international airspace over the Black Sea. The representative of the US Defense Ministry said that it was due to "unsafe and unprofessional actions of the Russian pilot." "Airplane US RC-135U, has a regular flight in international airspace over the Black Sea, was intercepted by Russian Su-27 in dangerous and unprofessional manner. We are investigating this incident," - she said. Note that in autumn 2015 were recorded three dangerous convergence of Russian and American aircraft.

A trial opened in Lithuania on Wednesday (January 27) against dozens of former Soviet military officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in a 1991 crackdown on the Baltic state's pro-independence movement, Ukraine Today reported citing Reuters.

Russia has refused to cooperate with the investigation and most of the accused, who live outside Lithuania, will stay away from the trial, which coincides with heightened tensions between Moscow and Vilnius over the Ukraine crisis, according to Ukraine Today.Fourteen civilians were killed by the Soviet army in January 1991, prosecutors say. More than 700 others were wounded.

Prosecutors are also investigating whether to charge then-Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, now aged 84, and a decision is likely by the summer, investigating prosecutor Daiva Skorupskaite-Lisauskiene told Reuters.....

Russian Communists are livid over President Vladimir Putin’s hatchet job on Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, whom he accused of planting a “time bomb” that would eventually bring down the Soviet Union.

Lenin left a destructive legacy, Putin told supporters at a meeting in Stavropol on 25 January.

“He denounced Lenin and his government for brutally executing Russia’s last tsar along with all his family and servants, killing thousands of priests and placing a time bomb under the Russian state by drawing administrative borders along ethnic lines,” the Associated Press writes.

Putin’s remarks referred to a famous discussion wherein Lenin and Joseph Stalin argued over the ideal structure for the new communist state, RT writes. Stalin wanted a more tightly-knit federation, but Lenin’s proposal to give the republics the right to secede from the union became Soviet law.

Putin said this decision led to the borders being defined in an “absolutely arbitrary” fashion.

“Donbas, for example, was transferred to Ukraine under the following pretext: to increase the percentage of the proletariat in Ukraine in order to obtain stronger social support there. This is nonsense,” RT quotes him as saying.

“It’s not his first anti-communist sentiment, and history will not forgive him that,” fumed Communist Duma deputy Sergei Obukhov.

“Putin’s criticism of Lenin could be part of his attempts to justify Moscow’s policy in the Ukrainian crisis, but it also may reflect the Kremlin’s concern about possible separatist sentiments in some Russian provinces,” the AP says.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed as a "total fabrication” a U.S. official’s charge that Putin is corrupt and has been hiding his true wealth for years.

Adam Szubin, the Treasury Department official who oversees U.S. sanctions on Russia, made the accusation on the BBC’s Panorama program. He said Washington had known for "many, many years” he was corrupt. "We've seen [Putin] enriching his friends, his close allies, and marginalizing those who he doesn't view as friends using state assets…. To me, that is a picture of corruption," Szubin said.

A British inquiry last week concluded that Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko was killed by two Russian agents, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, probably at the behest of the Russian FSB secret service on orders from Putin.

Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion called inadmissible statements of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the Ukrainian diaspora. According to "The League" "The League", Dion said that Canada outraged by the invasion of Russia in Ukraine and stressed the important role of Ukrainians in Canada's history.

"We strongly disagree with the invasion, as well as government interference in the affairs of Russia in Ukraine. And we are not going to suffer the humiliation of the Russian minister to the Ukrainian community in Canada. We owe so much to the Ukrainians in Canada and will always support them ", - he said.

Earlier, on January 26 during the final press conference of 2015, Sergei Lavrov made a statement on the role of the resonance of the Ukrainian Diaspora in the foreign policy of the former government of Canada. According to Lavrov, the government of ex-Prime Minister Stephen Harper took an impulsive action, "taking a course on blind adherence to the requirements of rabid representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada."

Russia is trying with the help of the occupied areas of Donbass tie Ukraine, as well as to block the European integration process of the state.

This was reported by a journalist and political analyst Vitaly Portnikov transmits Espreso.TV.

"The Minsk Agreement makes no mention of a quasi-state status" DNR "and" LC ". On the contrary, we are talking about the features of local governments in each area. These areas should not be linked by a single center. The idea of ​​federalization of Ukraine was expressed Vladimir Putin and Sergei Lavrov before the start of the war in the Donbass. And Russia's leaders quite clearly explained that it is not even about the federation of the German sample, but the confederation in which each entity will have a veto over important decisions of the government. The goal is clear - by hook or by crook to achieve locking of European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine ", - said Portnikov.According to the journalist, Putin did not depart from its target.

"And if you think that under the influence of the economic collapse in Moscow rejected this nonsense, you're wrong. Brad - a kind of psychosis. Putin will not give up the restoration of the USSR ever ... With the Russian-occupied areas of Donbass us try again to bind to Mordor. That is why Ukraine must insist on the temporary nature of special order management area of ​​Donbass after the de-occupation ", - says Portnikov.

According to him, Ukraine should create conditions for the return of residents of Donbas to civilized life.

"Life without Putin, rubles, murder, cruelty and fear - all that we associate today with the" Russian world ". That's the whole special procedure", - he said.

As previously reported by the "Observer", Portnikov explained how Putin wants to use a "formula Steinmeier".

Russian political analyst: Kremlin does not know what to do by Trump winning

Tue Nov 29, 2016 12:19 am by Admin

Last week marked by the unexpected victory of Donald Trump's presidential election in the United States, the passions around the International Criminal Court, the scandalous arrest of the Minister of Economic Development of …